96 PASSERES. TROCHILID^. 



the threads of spiders' webs, very neatly put on, 

 and the whole exterior is studded with a minute 

 whitish lichen, so profusely as almost entirely to 

 conceal the down, without at all injuring the sym- 

 metry of the form. It is a most compact and beau- 

 tiful little structure. 



The down of the cotton-tree is the material or- 

 dinarily chosen by all our Humming-birds for the 

 construction of their nests. The tree attains a 

 giant size and diameter, and throws out to a vast 

 distance its horizontal limbs, each equalling in its 

 dimensions an ordinary forest tree. It is one of 

 the few in those tropical islands, which are deci- 

 duous : the fierce blasts called " norths," which 

 prevail in January and February, pouring down 

 from the mountains, quickly lay it bare. I have 

 seen an enormous tree in full foliage, almost leaf- 

 less in an hour ; the leaves filling the air, like flakes 

 of snow in a driving storm. TVhile it is yet de- 

 nuded, the pods appear at the ends of the branches, 

 resembling green walnuts : these ripen before the 

 leaves bud, and opening, give freedom to a mass 

 of fine silky filamentous down, which is borne away 

 upon the wdnd. The filaments are so fine, that 

 at this season, April and May, they are imbibed 

 with the air we breathe, being almost impalpable, 

 and are considered to aggravate pulmonary affec- 

 tions. The tufts so scattered, the Humming-birds 

 and others of the feathered tribes, diligently collect, 

 and that not only on the ground. I have been 

 amused to observe a Mango Humming-bird sus- 

 pending himself in the air, over against a pufi" of 



